Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an accessory for a lens equipment, and more particular to a lens cover for a lens equipment, such as a scope, which can be easily mounted to the lens equipment to protect the lens thereof and can be quickly folded sideward at its opened position.
Description of Related Arts
Lens equipment, such as a scope, telescope, camera lens module, or binoculars, generally comprises a tubular lens housing and a lens supported in the lens housing. For example, scopes are sighting device and are commonly used on firearms, such as rifles, to give an accurate aiming point during shooting. The scope generally comprises a tubular lens housing and two lenses provided at two ends of the lens housing to define an objective end and a sight (ocular) end. Accordingly, the quality of each of the lens will be reduced when the lens is scratched or covered by dust. Therefore, a lens cover is usually utilized to cover the lens when it is not in used.
The conventional lens cover comprises a tubular body detachably coupled at the end of either the objective lens housing or ocular lens housing and a cover panel movably attached to the tubular body via a hinge, wherein the cover is held at a front opening of the tubular body to cover the lens and is flipped upwardly from the tubular body to uncover the lens. However, such lens cover has several drawbacks. Since the cover panel is flipped upwardly from the front opening of the tubular body, the flipping movement of the cover panel requires a relative space in front of the tubular body. In other words, after the scope is coupled at the firearm, no additional accessory can be coupled in front of the scope that will block the flipping movement of the cover panel. Furthermore, when the cover panel is flipped upwardly, the cover panel will block the sight of the shooter. The hinge must incorporate a coil to force the upward flipping movement of the cover panel. Since the hinge must be located at the exterior of the tubular body, the hinge is not protected. Once the hinge is broken by any external force, the lens cover will not be flip-opened or closed at all.
Another type of lens cover is a shutter type lens cover, wherein a plurality of shutter blades that side in and out from the center of the front opening of the tubular body. In particular, one end of the shutter blade is affixed in position while the other end of the shutter blade is moved back and forth. Therefore, the shutter blades are moved away from the center of the tubular body for opening up the front opening thereof and are moved toward the center of the tubular body for opening up the front opening thereof. As a result, in the opened position of the shutter type lens cover, the shutter blades will not block the sight of the shooter. Generally, the more shutter blades there are in the tubular body, the more rounded the opening will be. The opening diameter of the shutter blades should be larger than a diameter of the lens. In other words, the shutter type lens cover will involve a relatively complicated structure comparing with the flip type lens cover. More importantly, the shutter blades will be jammed or stuck by dirt, sand, or dust. Once the shutter blades are stuck, the shutter type lens cover will malfunction. It is worth mentioning that the shutter blades cannot be fully closed that there is always an aperture at the center of the tubular body.
Moreover, the common drawback of the flip type lens cover and the shutter type lens cover is that a diameter of the tubular body must match with a diameter of the lens housing in order to couple the tubular body with the lens housing. In other words, there is no universal lens cover that fits different sizes of scopes.